Pence aides fear he may not even qualify for first GOP debate

Former Vice President Mike Pence's White House bid is off to a slow start, and there's a real chance he may not even qualify for the first Republican presidential debate.

The New York Times reports that the former vice president has raised just $1.2 million for his presidential campaign, which shows a lack of enthusiasm from both big-name fundraisers and small-dollar donors.

As if this weren't bad enough, sources tell the Times that Pence "had not yet received donations from 40,000 donors, the threshold required to make the debate stage."

In a desperate scramble to avoid being disqualified from the debate, reports the Times, Pence's campaign "plans to spend a large bulk of what it has raised on a robust direct-mail program aimed at helping him accrue enough donors to qualify."

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The report goes on to note that Pence has alienated himself from much of the party's base by correctly arguing that he did not have the power to singlehandedly throw out certified election results in order to give former President Donald Trump another term in office.

Trump supporters infamously chanted for Pence's hanging after they violently stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.